Clueless
by kelbebop-phoebenpiper
Summary: After Gabriella calls him "Clueless", Troy tries to pay more attention to his friends...and discovers something about Ryan and Chad. Next story in our "Extra Innings" universe; follows "Karaoke Night".


Clueless -- by phoebenpiper

"What a night," Gabriella sighed as she closed the door behind her two girlfriends. "Poor Kelsi -- I felt so bad for her."

"What do you mean?" Troy asked. After all, it was Taylor who had spilled buttered popcorn down her shirt, not Kelsi.

"I mean, I can't believe Jason kept going on and on about Kim all evening," Gabriella said as she started to clean up the living room.

Troy immediately followed Gabi's lead and began cleaning up by helpfully eating the last piece of pizza from the box.

It had been kind of a weird evening, since Zeke and Chad were off at the Evanses', leaving him and Jason as the only boys. Jason had spent the entire night talking about this Kim girl, which Troy never would've paid attention to except that it was more interesting than the chick flick the girls had insisted on watching.

"So who is this Kim girl, anyway?"

Gabriella stared at Troy as if he had a giant zit on his forehead. "YOU know. Kim. Tall, pretty girl? Long, curly, dark brown hair?"

Troy shook his head at each additional description, still not able to picture her.

"She works with Jason and Chad in the kitchen?"

'That explains it,' Troy thought, somewhat relieved.

"I haven't worked in the kitchen since June," he reminded Gabi. "I guess I just don't remember her."

Gabriella laughed, shaking her head. "You don't remember the star player of the East High girls' basketball team?"

"She's a Wildcat?"

Gabriella nodded, giggling.

Troy suddenly remembered a tall, pretty girl with long, curly, dark brown hair who had sometimes scrimmaged with the boys after practice last year. Apparently her name was Kim, he now realized. And apparently she worked at Lava Springs.

And apparently Jason really liked her.

Troy suddenly realized that when Jason kept talking about playing one-on-one with Kim after work, he actually was talking about basketball -- not the kind of one-on-one Troy was hoping he and Gabi might have now that everyone else was gone.

"You really are clueless, aren't you?" Gabriella teased as she carried an armload of empty pop cans into the kitchen. "You're oblivious to anything outside your own little circle."

"That's not true!" Troy responded without thinking. He was not used to receiving criticism, especially from his girlfriend -- in fact, most of the time everyone told him what a great guy he was -- so naturally Gabriella's comment made him defensive.

But now that he thought about it, he had to admit Gabriella might be right in this case. Obviously, if Kim was a star basketball player at East High, all the other Wildcats knew Kim and were probably even friends with her -- yet Troy barely even knew she existed until tonight.

Though he still wasn't too sure what all this had to do with Kelsi.

"Okay, so maybe I AM clueless," Troy admitted, holding up the lid of the kitchen recycling bin so that Gabriella could dump the empty cans inside. "But I still don't see what any of this has to do with 'poor Kelsi'."

Gabriella laughed, obviously at his expense once again. This would've further upset Troy except that she looked positively beautiful when she laughed, which was all he could really concentrate on at the moment.

That, and how good she smelled.

"Kelsi has a HUGE crush on Jason," Gabi explained, as if it were obvious.

"She does?" Troy asked, putting his hands on Gabriella's waist as he considered her comment. "Since when?"

"Since as long as I've KNOWN her," Gabriella said. "Don't you remember how she was always asking you about him during _Twinkle Towne_ rehearsals? 'Is Jason coming to the musicale?' 'What kind of music does Jason like?' 'Does Jason eat pizza?'"

Troy nodded. Now that she mentioned it, he did remembered Kelsi asking a lot of questions about Jason -- a lot of them about basketball, he seemed to recall -- but he'd never realized that those questions MEANT anything.

Reflecting on it now, Kelsi's questions about basketball WERE a little odd -- Kelsi was about the least sporty person he knew, except for maybe Ryan.

"If you're that clueless," Gabriella teased, staring up at Troy with her big brown eyes, "maybe I should warn you that Sharpay has a crush on you."

Troy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I did figure THAT one out." He grinned down at Gabi. "And what about you?"

"What ABOUT me?" she taunted, allowing Troy to pull her even closer.

"Do YOU maybe have a crush on me?" he teased.

Gabriella giggled. "I thought you'd never notice."

Troy leaned down, preparing to kiss her, when the kitchen door suddenly opened.

"Ms. Montez!" Troy exclaimed, quickly stepping away from Gabriella and then taking a deep breath to try to cool himself down.

"Troy was just helping me clean up, Mom," Gabriella offered.

"That's very nice of you, Troy," Ms. Montez said, clearly not believing it. "But Gabriella has to get up early for work tomorrow morning, so you..."

"Oh, of course, Ms. Montez," Troy said, quickly nodding. "I'll be going right away."

He took Gabriella's hand and led her out of the kitchen to the front door.

"I'll see you tomorrow, huh?" he said, taking Gabriella in his arms once again. Man, she smelled good!

"Can't wait," she said, leaning in towards him.

Their lips were about to meet when they heard Ms. Montez call out from the other room.

"Goodnight, Troy."

Thwarted once again, Troy sighed and called back, "Goodnight, Ms. Montez." Then, looking back down at his girlfriend, he added, "And goodnight, MISS Montez."

"Goodnight, MISTER Clueless," Gabriella teased before giving him a quick goodbye peck on the lips.

Troy smiled as he left the house, knowing he wasn't COMPLETELY clueless -- he was certain Gabriella liked him, even if she did call him names!

-----

After lying awake for several hours that night thinking about what Gabriella had said, Troy awoke early the next morning determined to be more observant about what was going on around him.

He decided to go into work early to tell Gabriella he'd taken her comments to heart. Of course, going in early also meant getting to see her in her swimsuit, but that had NOTHING to do with his decision.

However, when he arrived at Lava Springs and walked out to the pool, it was Ryan's voice and not Gabriella's that he heard. Troy quickly ducked behind a tall pile of stacked pool chairs, remembering the scolding he'd once gotten from Gabriella about not interrupting when she and Ryan were talking.

So Troy stood quietly behind the pile of pool chairs, hoping that Ryan wouldn't be too long -- after all, he really wanted to talk to Gabriella and, more importantly, to give her that kiss he'd never gotten last night.

But Ryan was talking about the previous evening and didn't seem to be in any hurry to go away.

"Sharpay ate over a dozen of Zeke's éclairs," Ryan said. "I don't even know who was happier about it -- Zeke or Sharpay."

Troy heard Gabriella giggle.

"I'm guessing Zeke. He was SO excited when he called me last night to say he wasn't coming over."

"Yeah, I think Zeke had a great time, even though he didn't sing that much."

"The question is -- did he sing anything for Sharpay?"

Troy smiled to himself. When he spoke to Gabi, he'd have to remind her that he wasn't COMPLETELY clueless -- he did know that Zeke had a crush on Sharpay.

Of course, it was kind of hard to miss.

Ryan laughed. "Yeah, he totally sang 'More Than a Woman' for her."

After a short pause, which Troy imagined involved a blank look from Gabriella, Ryan continued, "You know -- it's that song from _Saturday Night Fever_. Chad and I gave him such shit for it afterwards."

"Why?" Gabriella asked, and Troy could hear the slight disapproval in her voice.

"Because the song is WEIRD, Gabs. Have you ever listened to the lyrics? 'You're more than a woman to me'. What does that even mean? That you're a woman PLUS you have extra parts? Wouldn't that make you a hermaphrodite or something?"

Hearing Gabriella laugh, Troy could totally picture her beautiful smile. He longed to join in their conversation, if only to be closer to her, but he stayed put, not willing to risk another scolding.

"I guess that IS a silly song," Gabriella conceded. "But I think it's sweet that Zeke sang something for her."

"Well, I guess he had to pick SOMETHING -- he probably didn't even know most of our karaoke songs, since they're mostly showtunes."

"So what about YOU?" Gabriella asked, a hint of teasing in her voice. "What did you sing for Chad?"

Troy heard a brief pause before she prodded, "C'mon -- I KNOW you sang something for him."

"You can't KNOW that," Ryan said almost defensively.

"Ryan Yancy Evans, don't you dare be that way. As your best girlfriend, you OWE it to me to give me all the juicy..."

Gabriella stopped mid-sentence as she stared over the pool chairs at her boyfriend.

Troy had been so wrapped up in listening to their conversation that he hadn't noticed the pile of pool chairs slowly decreasing in height as Gabriella did her morning poolside preparations.

And now Gabriella was standing there, staring at Troy, pool chair in hand.

Ryan stared at him as well, his face bright red, obviously having not used sunscreen that morning.

"Good morning," Troy said, smiling sheepishly.

Gabriella set the pool chair on the deck and crossed her arms in front of her, shaking her head angrily as she glared at Troy. "I can't believe you were eavesdropping, Troy."

Troy shook his head. "No, I wasn't -- I swear! I just didn't want to interrupt. You told me not to interrupt when you're talking to Ryan." Troy smiled at the blond boy, adding, "Morning, Ryan."

"Morning," Ryan answered back warily. "So...what did you hear?"

Troy shrugged. "I just heard you talking about your karaoke night -- I'm glad you guys had fun. WE ended up watching a chick flick because Jason and I were the only guys."

Gabriella continued to glare, so Troy quickly added, "The movie wasn't actually that bad -- Kate Winslet was pretty cute in it."

"He's not interested in your movie review, Troy," Gabriella said, clearly annoyed.

Although Troy wasn't sure what exactly she was so annoyed about. "I'm just saying..."

"I should go," Ryan said. "See you later, Gabs."

"Yeah, later," Gabriella said, giving the blond boy a smile before turning her glare back to Troy.

"Uh...bye, Ryan." Troy called after the blond, not nearly as happy to see him go as he thought he'd be.

That's because he knew that he probably wouldn't be getting that kiss from Gabriella anytime soon.

-----

Troy spent the rest of his morning trying to be more observant, but his success was only limited.

During break, he listened with interest to Zeke's account of karaoke night but found his attention wandering when Zeke launched into details about baking éclairs.

Later, in the dining room, Troy complimented Kelsi on her new hat, only to find out it was the same one she'd been wearing last night.

And during his junior golf lessons, Troy made an effort to call each of the kids by name instead of using generic phrases like "Cutie" and "Champ"; this backfired when he accidentally called Thaddeus Oxford-Waite "Thad" and got a kick in the shins for his trouble.

Lunch, however, was more successful. Gabriella and Taylor went shopping for new outfits for the upcoming pool party, so Troy decided to eat lunch with Jason and Kim.

Troy figured the best way to get to know someone was to ask them a lot of questions, so he spent most of the meal quizzing Kim. Troy desperately wanted to prove to Gabi that he was interested in people outside of his own little circle, and getting to know Kim better seemed like a good first step.

It was a pleasant lunch overall, though poor Jason's knee must've really been bothering him -- he kept having to stretch out his leg, which resulted in him accidentally kicking Troy several times during the conversation.

After lunch, the afternoon seemed to fly by. Troy's golf lessons went well, and he even got to play nine holes with one of the members. And during break, Gabriella did a quick fashion show of the new clothes she'd bought -- Troy hoped that she didn't quiz him about the clothes later because he'd been concentrating too much on the girl underneath them to pay much attention.

As the end of the day rolled around, Troy was thrilled to learn that his 5 o'clock golf lesson had been canceled. He rushed off to the kitchen, excited to have some extra time to spend with his best friend, who he hardly ever saw anymore.

"Hey, Chad," Troy said, catching up with his friend as he clocked out. "My 5 o'clock got canceled, so I thought that maybe you and I could go play a little one-on-one now."

"I'd love to, dude, but I can't," Chad said, hanging up his apron. "Ryan…uh…asked me to…be on the planning committee for the pool party, so I've…uh…gotta go meet him and Sharpay for a meeting."

Troy smiled. "Sounds like fun."

Chad laughed. "Yeah…listening to the Evanses bicker all afternoon is a blast. But if I skip out, Ryan will kill me, so…."

"I totally understand, dude," Troy said, trying not to show his own disappointment in being deprived of Chad's company once again. "But how about I walk you to your meeting?"

Chad shrugged. "Whatever, dude. If you wanna risk getting roped into this committee with me, be my guest."

Troy hadn't thought about that. He suddenly remembered all the time he'd spent "helping" Sharpay with the Star Dazzle talent show and shuddered.

Chad laughed. "I don't blame you, dude." He slapped Troy on the back, saying, "But we'll definitely have to get together soon to play one-on-one."

"'Soon' is right -- we have less than a week before school starts."

"Don't remind me, dude -- I don't even WANT to be thinking about Darbus yet! Maybe we could play…Saturday morning?"

Troy shook his head. "I'm caddying for Mr. Evans Saturday morning. What about Saturday afternoon?"

"Nope -- I've been told to 'clear my schedule' for Ryan…to, uh, take care of last minute party planning."

Troy laughed. "Isn't the party being catered?"

Chad nodded. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean that Sharpay won't want to oversee everything. But hey -- how about we get together Sunday morning, before the party?"

Troy looked confused. "Won't there be even more last minute party planning then?"

Chad smiled. "It doesn't matter because I'm 'going to church' that morning," he said, using air-quotes to make his point.

Troy laughed. "Since when do you go to church during the summer?"

"Since Sharpay asked me to help out Sunday morning, of course. So what do you say -- a quick game of one-on-one Sunday before the party?"

Troy smiled. "Sounds perfect."

Ryan came running in, asking, "Chad, where have you…?" He stopped mid-sentence as soon as he saw Troy. "Oh…hey Troy."

"Hey, Ryan. Sorry I was delaying Chad from your meeting."

"Meeting?" Ryan echoed, glancing at Chad.

"Party planning committee meeting," Chad said. "I'm sure Sharpay is impatiently waiting for us."

"Oh…yeah…she's totally…waiting," Ryan said.

Troy nodded. "Then I better not keep you -- I know how Sharpay can be."

Chad smiled. "Yeah, we better go." He patted his friend on the back, saying, "See you Sunday, Troy," before walking off with Ryan.

Troy watched the two boys leave, suddenly wondering what Gabriella was doing after work -- he liked the idea of a little afternoon one-on-one with her for a change.

----

The next morning Troy had his final golf lesson with Ryan. He was definitely looking forward to this painful chapter in his life being over soon.

Not that Troy didn't like spending time with Ryan; the blond boy was a nice enough guy. The problem was that he was HOPELESS when it came to golf -- it depressed Troy to admit that, after three months of private lessons, Ryan was no better than when he'd started, making Troy wonder if he was really cut out for teaching.

For this last lesson, Troy had decided to concentrate on Ryan's putting; Troy figured, at the very least, he might be able to improve Ryan's miniature golf game.

But as Troy jumped out of the way of a fast-approaching putt, he realized that even this goal seemed out-of-reach.

"Not so hard," Troy coached as Ryan walked over to where the ball had stopped. "The trick is to give it just enough energy to reach the hole, but not enough to jump back out again."

Ryan nodded, his face mostly obscured by his purple sunhat and dark sunglasses. On his next swing, he hit the ball so lightly that it stopped a good foot short of the hole.

"That's the idea," Troy encouraged as Ryan took a few steps forward to the ball. "A gentle touch, but with a little more force behind it this time. You just need to find that happy medium: not too hard, but not too soft."

"Like Goldilocks?" Ryan joked, grinning at Troy.

"Exactly."

Ryan lined up his shot and hit it just right so the ball dropped neatly into the hole.

"Yes!" Troy exclaimed. "Perfect!"

"Yeah, perfect…after twelve putts," Ryan sighed as he bent over to grab his golf ball.

"But you're getting better," Troy pointed out. "The more you practice, the better you'll get."

Ryan smiled. "Just like that old question: 'How do you get to Carnegie Hall?'"

Troy stared blankly at the blond boy, not sure what he was talking about.

"You know," Ryan explained, "practice, practice, practice."

Troy laughed. Sometimes the Evanses seemed to speak their own language.

"Yes, exactly," Troy encouraged. "You've got to practice. So set the ball back down and let's try again."

Ryan did as he was told, but on his first swing he hit the ball too hard again so that it quickly skirted past the hole.

"Backbo--" Ryan called out, stopping midword at Troy's disapproving look.

"No, I've told you, Ryan -- no 'backboards'!" Troy scolded. "You'll never get better if you always cheat."

"I'll never get better PERIOD," Ryan sighed as he moved over to take another swing.

Troy kind of had to agree, but he didn't want to discourage his student. "Yes you will. You've already gotten better. You just need to work on it some more and not give up."

Ryan nodded and smiled at Troy. "You're a really good teacher, you know that?"

Troy shrugged -- he didn't feel like one, since he'd obviously failed with Ryan this summer.

"I mean it," Ryan insisted. "I suck at golf, but you still encourage me." His voice became wistful as he added, "I wish more teachers at school were like that."

Ryan's compliment meant a lot to Troy, but he couldn't resist teasing, "Dude, don't mention 'school'. We've still got four more days of freedom left -- let's enjoy them while we can."

Ryan nodded and swung his club, sending his golf ball careening past the hole once again. "Well, going back to school isn't ALL bad. We'll get to see Ms. Darbus again."

Troy definitely wouldn't have called that a GOOD thing, but he didn't say so. Instead he asked, "So what musical are you guys planning to do this fall?"

"Not a musical," Ryan said, striking his golf ball once again. "We always do a play in the fall. I'm hoping Ms. Darbus will pick something from Shakespeare -- his plays are so much fun to perform!"

Troy smiled. He was always amused by the transformation in Ryan when the blond boy talked about the theatre -- it was crystal clear how much Ryan loved it.

"But what about you?" Ryan asked, swinging his club. "You must be excited for basketball to start up again."

Troy beamed -- the way Ryan felt about the theatre was the same way Troy felt about basketball.

"Yeah, but the season doesn't actually start for a few months," Troy pointed out.

"But you should have a good team again this year, right?" Ryan asked as his golf ball rolled right past the hole. "Chad said only one starter last year was a senior."

"Yeah," Troy said, "I'm sad to see Vinny go, but there are several sophomores from last year who I think will be able to fill his shoes."

Ryan nodded, smacking the ball again. "And Zeke's grown, like, a FOOT this summer, so that should help, right? Isn't he the toast or something?"

Troy laughed. "The POST," he corrected.

It seemed so weird to be discussing basketball with Ryan -- the only way it would've been weirder is if the conversation had been with Kelsi.

Of course, Kelsi only discussed basketball because she had a crush on Jason, and clearly that wasn't Ryan's problem. Ryan never even mentioned Jason.

He did, however, always seem to be mentioning….

"I knew Chad had said it was something like that. The POST," Ryan said, stressing the correct word, "is the guy under the basket, right? So Zeke being taller should definitely help with making hoops and stuff."

But Troy was no longer really listening because he'd had a sudden epiphany -- Ryan seemed to like Chad. A LOT.

Just like Kelsi liked Jason, only even more so.

"And Chad said the dance lessons this summer have really helped him become more aware of how he moves," Ryan was saying, "so he really thinks that'll help his game."

It all made sense now. The dance lessons. The party planning committee. The karaoke night.

Suddenly Gabriella's voice echoed back in Troy's head: "What did you sing for Chad?"

No wonder Gabriella had been so mad yesterday morning -- it turned out Troy had been eavesdropping on a private conversation that definitely wasn't meant for his ears.

"Yes!"

Ryan's suddenly exclamation brought Troy back to the lesson.

"Only eleven this time!" the blond boy beamed. "I AM getting better. I can't wait to tell Chad -- HE said I was hopeless."

Troy smiled to himself. How had he never noticed before that Ryan got that same happy theatre glow whenever he discussed Chad?

Gabriella had been right -- he WAS clueless.

And Troy couldn't wait to tell her that, although he'd been slow to catch on, he finally had.

But in the meantime, he had to finish up Ryan's lesson. So Troy grabbed the ball out of the hole and set it on the edge of the putting green.

"Let's try it again," he said. "And this time, let's aim for single digits."

Ryan looked at him doubtfully. "You really think I can?"

Troy smiled, shrugging. "You'll never know until you try."

-----

Because of back-to-back golf lessons, Troy didn't get to have lunch with Gabriella, so it wasn't until their afternoon break that he was finally able to talk to her.

"You can't call me clueless anymore," he bragged as they snuck into the empty music room so they could be alone, "because I've finally figured something out."

"Let me guess," Gabriella said, grinning. "You finally figured out that you like me."

Troy laughed. "No, I've known that for quite awhile!" he said, taking her in his arms.

He'd been dying to talk to Gabriella ever since Ryan's golf lesson, but now that they were alone, talking was no longer the foremost thing on his mind -- Gabriella was.

But no matter how pretty Gabi was, or how good she smelled, Troy needed to get this off his chest.

"No," he continued, "I've figured out something about Ryan."

"Ryan?" Gabi teased, pretending to look confused. "Which one is he again?"

"Hey, I know who Kim is now, so stop giving me grief."

Gabriella giggled. "Oh, so now you want points for being able to pick out Kim in a line-up, huh?"

"I probably know more about Kim now than you do," Troy bragged. "Did you know her brother is--"

"Chucky from the basketball team?" Gabriella finished for him. "Yes, I did know that. But I'm impressed that you finally know it."

Troy once again felt stupid, and just when he'd been feeling so proud of his observations. Apparently he was clueless.

Gabriella must've noticed his bummed expression, for she put her hand on his chin, lifting his dejected face.

"I'm impressed that you're making such as effort." She gave him a quick peck on the lips before asking, "So what is this great secret you've figured out about Ryan?"

Troy had been so sure of his deduction during Ryan's golf lesson, but now he was starting to doubt himself. If he was wrong, he'd look even more foolish, and that was the last thing he wanted in front of Gabriella right now.

But he'd come too far to back out now, so he said simply, "I think Ryan may like Chad."

Gabriella laughed. "Of course Ryan likes Chad-- they're good friends."

"No, not like that," Troy said. If he was going to say it, he needed to say it quickly, like pulling off a band-aid. "I think…I think Ryan has a crush on Chad," he blurted out.

Troy wasn't sure how he'd expected Gabriella to react, but it certainly wasn't for her to back away from him, saying, "What do you mean? Ryan doesn't a have a crush on Chad. Definitely not a crush. I don't know what you're talking about. Ryan and Chad are friends. They're friends. I don't know why you'd think they were anything else. They're definitely not. Not anything. Just friends."

Troy's shoulders slumped as he sighed dejectedly. He'd been so sure, after all the things Ryan had said.

But Ryan was good friends with Gabriella, so if anyone would know who Ryan liked, it would be her.

And according to her, Ryan was simply friends with Chad.

So Troy must've been wrong. Since he was kind of new to this whole observing thing, maybe he just didn't know how to read the signs yet. Maybe Ryan went on and on about Chad for some other reason.

Now that he thought about it more, Troy realized that Ryan didn't seem to have many guy friends, so that was probably why Ryan talked about Chad so much.

And invited him places.

And sang songs for him.

"I better go," Gabriella said, quickly glancing at the clock on the wall.

Troy followed her gaze. "We've still got another five minutes of break," he pointed out.

"No, I was…late getting back from lunch, so I better get back early." Gabriella smiled. "I don't want to make Fulton furious on my last day."

Troy laughed. "I don't blame you."

But here they were, alone, and Troy hadn't even gotten to kiss her yet. "But don't you maybe have time for…?"

"Nope," Gabriella said, giving him a quick peck on the lips before hurrying out. "See you later."

-----

When Mr. Evans asked Troy to join him for a game of golf on Saturday morning, Troy just assumed that he'd be caddying for the Lava Springs owner. Therefore, he was been overjoyed when he arrived bright and early and found out that Mr. Evans wanted him to play, not caddy.

"I love my family dearly," Mr. Evans explained, "but neither Darby nor Ryan could come in under par if the future of the world depended on it. And Sharpay's not a bad golfer, but playing with her is hardly--"

"Relaxing?" Troy offered.

Mr. Evans laughed. "I was going to say 'quiet', but you understand."

"That I do."

It was a beautiful sunny morning with just a hint of autumn in the air, and both Troy and Mr. Evans were thoroughly enjoying themselves. By the fifth hole they were tied, and the competitive streak in both of them was starting to show.

"Oh, too bad," Mr. Evans said without much conviction as Troy's shot veered to the left, landing in the sand.

"That sand trap always causes people grief," Mr. Evans continued smugly as he set his own ball on the tee and got out what Troy thought was totally the wrong club for this hole.

Troy watched silently as Mr. Evans concentrated on lining up his shot. His swing, however, was interrupted by a loud "DADDY!"

Troy couldn't conceal his smile as Mr. Evans's golf ball landed neatly in the sand trap, but he said nothing, for the well-dressed man had more urgent things to deal with at the moment.

"Daddy!" Sharpay demanded again as she brought her golf cart to a screeching halt on the grass in front of them. "Tell Ryan that it's MY party," she said, jumping off the cart and pointing at her brother, "and if I don't want to have fruit on my pizza, I don't have to!"

Ryan climbed out of the card, countering, "Just because YOU don't like Hawaiian pizza doesn't mean that others don't. You know, some people LIKE pineapple on their pizza."

Sharpay rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Since when did Chad become 'some people'?" she asked, using exaggerated air-quotes.

"Chad's not the only one who likes Hawaiian, you know," Ryan snapped back. "I bet if you asked Zeke, HE'D say he wants pineapple on his pizza."

"Oh puh-lease," Sharpay said, shaking her head. "Zeke has better taste than that."

"That's not what I heard," Ryan taunted. "According to the kitchen staff, Zeke got to taste your lip gloss yesterday."

Sharpay gasped. "Daddy! Tell Fulton to make the staff stop gossiping about my private life!"

For the first time since the twins had arrived, Mr. Evans uneasily spoke. "Uh, Princess, it's the end of the summer -- most of the younger staff aren't even officially 'staff' anymore. There's nothing I can really do."

Sharpay let out an exasperated sigh, obviously frustrated with her father's answer. Then she turned back to Ryan, saying, "And don't be gross, Ryan -- Zeke didn't 'taste' anything! All I did was give him a quick kiss to thank him for the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies he made me which, upon reflection, I'm glad I didn't share with you."

"Oh, I'm heart-broken," Ryan said sarcastically, putting a melodramatic hand to his forehead.

"No, you're just JEALOUS because you can't walk into the kitchen and thank CHAD the same way."

Ryan smacked his sister hard, eliciting a shriek of pain that almost drowned out his strained, "Shut UP, Shar!"

"Daddy!" Sharpay said, shoving her brother. "Tell Ryan to stop hitting me!"

"And tell Sharpay to stop being such a brat! It's not HER party, anyway! It's for EVERYONE -- Mom said so!"

"Oh, don't bring Mother into this," Sharpay groaned. "I swear, Ryan, I bet you couldn't go five minutes without mentioning Mother or Chad."

"Oh yeah? Well I bet YOU couldn't go THREE minutes without mentioning yourself."

"That's so lame, Ryan."

"Then you wanna bet on it?"

"You're on!" Sharpay said, shaking Ryan's hand. "What does the winner get?"

Ryan smiled wickedly as he suggested, "How about pineapple on their pizza?"

Sharpay slapped Ryan's hand away as she turned to her father, demanding, "Daddy, tell him I can order whatever pizzas I want -- it's MY party."

"Ahah!" Ryan said, pointing excitedly at his sister. "You said 'I' and 'my' -- that means I win!"

Sharpay stomped her foot angrily. "Daddy, that's not fair!"

But Mr. Evans shrugged. "Sorry, Princess -- a bet's a bet."

"Yes!" Ryan cheered gleefully.

Sharpay crossed her arms in front of her, obviously prepared for a long pout, but instead her father put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Think about it this way, Princess," he said soothingly. "If you serve food that people like at your party, people will enjoy themselves, and YOU can take all the credit for it."

Sharpay's pout slowly turned into a smile as she considered her father's words.

"I guess you're right -- people will be having fun, all thanks to ME!"

Sharpay gave her father a quick kiss on the cheek before cheerfully heading back to the golf cart.

"C'mon, Ryan -- we've got party planning to do if we're to make this the best party EVER." Almost as an afterthought she added, "Bye, Daddy."

"Bye, Princess. Bye, Son."

Ryan smiled meaningfully at his father. "THANKS, Dad."

"Ryan! Let's go!"

The blond boy quickly jumped onto Sharpay's golf cart as she peeled away, leaving the golf course quiet once again.

And leaving Troy convinced that his initial deduction about Ryan had been correct.

-----

Troy spent the rest of Saturday thinking about what he'd heard on the golf course.

Yesterday, Gabriella had been insistent that Ryan didn't have a crush on Chad. True, Gabriella was Ryan's friend, but maybe she didn't know everything.

Sharpay, however, was not only Ryan's sister but his TWIN, meaning she probably knew him better than anyone.

And Sharpay clearly thought her brother had a crush on Chad -- otherwise why would she have been taunting him so?

And what was Sharpay's comment about Ryan being jealous that he couldn't "thank" Chad the same way? Troy realized Sharpay was essentially saying that Ryan was jealous that he couldn't KISS Chad.

And when she'd made the comment, Ryan had gotten upset and smacked her, and even Mr. Evans had suddenly appeared very uncomfortable -- which meant Sharpay's comment must have hit pretty close to the mark.

How much more proof did Troy need?

But now the question became 'what should Troy do with this information?'

When Troy had found out a few days ago that Kelsi had a crush on Jason, he hadn't done a thing.

But that was completely different. Apparently it was a well-known fact that Kelsi liked Jason -- but as far as Troy could tell, only Ryan's family knew about HIS crush.

Troy knew he shouldn't go off and blab about it to everyone. If Ryan hadn't even told Gabriella, then it was clearly something he didn't want the other Wildcats to know.

'But why?' Troy wondered. Most of the Wildcats had probably figured out Ryan was gay by now, so it shouldn't come as a complete surprise to them that he had a crush on a guy.

But it would probably come as a surprise that his crush was a guy within their own circle of friends.

And especially a surprise for the guy himself. How was Chad likely to feel about Ryan having a crush on him?

Chad had never seemed particularly homophobic. And he was close friends with Ryan, so the fact that Ryan was gay obviously didn't affect their friendship. But perhaps the fact that Ryan liked him as more than a friend would affect it.

Maybe, if Ryan tried something, Chad would freak out, and their friendship would be ruined forever. And Troy realized that the two friends were too close for him to just sit back and watch that happen.

Troy figured Chad was less likely to freak out if he knew what was coming. So if Troy could warn his best friend about Ryan's crush, maybe Chad could approach Ryan first and let him down easy. That way their friendship could be saved -- no fuss, no muss.

By the time Chad arrived at Troy's house on Sunday, Troy was determined to save their friendship by spilling all he knew to his best friend.

But his dad had other ideas.

"Hey, Chad," Coach said, grabbing the basketball from Chad and starting to dribble it in the entryway. "Are the other guys coming over, too? Maybe we can get in one last summer pick-up game -- what d'you say?"

"No, Dad."

Troy sounded more stern than he'd intended; his dad instantly stopped dribbling, a wounded look on his face.

Feeling guilty, Troy quickly continued, "No one else is coming over, Dad -- Chad and I were just gonna play a little one-on-one before heading over to the party."

"Oh, that's right -- the big pool party," Coach said, tossing the basketball back to Chad. "You guys should have fun at that -- lots of girls in bikinis, right?"

Chad laughed. "Hey yeah, Troy -- maybe Gabriella will finally wear something sexier than her plain lifeguard suit."

Imagining Gabriella in even her one-piece lifeguard swimsuit made Troy's cheeks grow warm.

"Actually, she bought a new sundress for the party," he admitted, "but I don't know if she's planning to wear a swimsuit or not."

Chad grinned, playfully nudging his best friend. "I don't think skinny-dipping's allowed, dude -- it's not THAT kind of party."

Troy's face flushed even redder as images of Gabriella skinny-dipping instantly flooded his mind.

His dad must've noticed because he teased, "Clearly Troy wishes it WAS that kind of party."

Troy held up his hands in defeat -- he couldn't believe his dad and best friend were teaming up to tease him!.

"Enough about Gabriella," Troy said, hoping to get them off his back as he snatched the ball away from Chad. "C'mon, Chad -- let's go play."

"Yeah, you boys go have fun," Coach said, patting Troy on the back as the two boys headed out.

Troy could tell his dad was waiting for an invitation to join them, but Troy needed to be alone with Chad so he could explain about Ryan.

So he merely called back, "Later, Dad."

As soon as the boys hit the court, they instantly started playing,

"So, the party should be fun, huh?" Troy said as he dribbled. "I hear Sharpay's ordering Hawaiian pizzas."

"Yeah, and a live band, too," Chad said, snatching the ball away from Troy. "In fact, it's Kevin's band, so that should be cool."

Troy nodded, even though he had no idea who Kevin was -- he'd have to ask Gabriella about him later.

"Sharpay and Ryan are planning to sing a few numbers, too," Chad continued, going up for a shot.

"Of course they are!" Troy groaned as he jumped in front of Chad and caught the rebound midair. "And let me guess -- elaborate sets and pyrotechnics are involved."

"Nope, not this time," Chad said. "Sharpay's not even planning any costume changes."

"Amazing!" Troy said, grinning. He then dodged Chad's defense and made a perfect lay-up. "Two-zip."

Chad got the ball and slowly dribbled it back. "Oh, and speaking of Sharpay, did you hear that she kissed Zeke yesterday? Right in the middle of the kitchen. She just walked right in and…SMACK!"

Troy smiled. "Yeah, I heard something about that. So how did Zeke react?"

Chad laughed as he faked a charge and then returned to slow dribbling. "How do you think? We practically had to scrape him off the ceiling, he was flying so high."

Chad made another charge to the basket, but Troy managed to whack the ball away.

"Well, I'm happy for Zeke," Troy said, making a perfect jumpshot. "Yes! Nothing but net!"

Chad ran to grab the ball, teasing, "You're just glad that Sharpay's off YOUR back." Chad faked right and charged left, making a lay-up. "Two-four."

As Troy ran to get the ball, he explained, "Well yeah, that's partly true. But I'm also just happy for Zeke -- he's been crushing on Sharpay for so long! He's a good guy, and he deserves to be happy, you know? It's nice to see someone finally get who they want."

"Well, you got Gabriella," Chad pointed out, trying to swat the dribble away from Troy.

"Yeah, but I was lucky," Troy said, putting his hand up to protect the ball. "Not everyone can have who they want, you know?"

Troy suddenly realized that this might be his only opportunity to tell Chad what he needed to, so he caught the ball and turned to face his friend head-on.

"I need to tell you something, Chad -- something about Ryan."

Chad gave him a wary look. "O…kay. What is it?"

Troy took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts. "Look, Ryan's a nice guy, and I just don't want to see him get hurt. So try not to freak out or anything, okay? But I think you should know -- Ryan has a crush on you."

Chad's eyes grew wide with shock and horror. "What?!"

"See, I kinda overheard a few things I wasn't really s'posed to, and then I just put two and two together. And I'm almost positive that Ryan likes you."

Chad remained speechless, obviously horrified at the concept, so Troy put his free hand on Chad's shoulder and continued.

"I know you and Ryan have become really good friends this summer, and the last thing I want is for your friendship to break up over this. So I figured if I warned you, maybe you could, I don't know, let him down easy or something."

An uneasy smile crossed Chad's face.

"Um…yeah…that's not gonna happen."

Chad must've sensed Troy's confusion because he continued, "I'm, uh, not sure how to tell you this, which is why I HAVEN'T told you this, but…Ryan and I are kinda…well…I guess you'd call it dating."

"What?"

The basketball dropped from Troy's hand, bouncing a few times before rolling into the bushes.

"Ryan and I kinda…kissed during a dance lesson, and I kinda freaked out afterwards, so then I took Taylor out on that disastrous date, which just made me realize that I'd never really been that into her anyway, so then I--"

"Wait!" Troy said, putting up a hand to try to stop the torrent of information that was flying at him so his brain could catch up. "Wasn't your big date with Taylor, like, over a month ago?"

Chad nodded sheepishly.

"And you've been dating Ryan ever since then?!" Troy was having a hard time computing.

"Well, we haven't exactly been DATING this whole time," Chad said. "See, at first we were just kinda…making out during dance lessons -- we didn't actually go out to see _Stomp_ for--"

"_Stomp_ was a date?!"

"Yeah…our first one. I thought Ryan would like going to see a show, but he'd already seen it, and then there was this pillar, so…."

But Troy was no longer really listening. Instead, he was reprimanding himself for being so clueless. Here he'd been so proud, thinking he'd deduced something on his own, and it turned out he'd only figured out half of it.

And it wasn't even the half concerning his best friend!

Was he really such a bad friend that he hadn't even noticed this huge thing going on in Chad's life? No wonder Gabriella called him clueless.

Gabriella!

"Does Gabriella know?" Troy blurted out, interrupting Chad mid-sentence.

"Uh…well…she kinda figured some stuff out, and Ryan spilled everything else."

"I can't believe it." Troy shook his head, realizing Gabriella's adamant dismissal of his deduction had all been a lie.

Not that he blamed her. Naturally Gabriella wouldn't want to give away someone else's secret, so she--

"I knew you'd freak out," Chad said, shaking his head and turning away. "I'm sorry…I should just go."

Chad was almost to the back porch before Troy realized he was leaving.

"No, Chad, WAIT! Don't go. I'm…I'm not freaking out -- I'm just…feeling like an idiot here."

Chad warily walked back towards the court. "What do you mean?"

Troy was finding it hard to put his jumbled thoughts into words. There were so many things that he wanted to say, wanted to ask.

But before he could get his thoughts in order, his emotions took over, and he blurted out angrily, "Why didn't you tell me, man? You're my best friend, or at least I THOUGHT you were. But instead you keep me in the dark and make me look stupid. What kind of friend is that?"

Troy hadn't meant it to come out so harsh, but underneath his feelings of confusion and stupidity, Troy felt really hurt. And betrayed.

"Who else knows?" he continued, his voice getting louder as his anger mounted. "Obviously Sharpay does, but what about the other Wildcats? Has EVERYONE been keeping secrets behind my back, making me look like an idiot?!"

Chad shook his head vehemently. "No, dude, no one else knows. I haven't told ANYONE -- Gabriella just figured it out herself, and Sharpay walked in on us kissing so we couldn't exactly keep it from her. But that's it -- I promise!"

Chad thought a moment before adding, "Well, except for Ryan's mom -- he's a huge momma's boy, so he tells her stuff." Chad rolled his eyes. "And I'm guessing Ryan's dad knows, too -- the Evanses are fairly tight-knit."

Troy's anger had cooled a little, leaving him merely feeling hurt again.

"I thought WE were tight-knit," Troy said. "You and I have been best friends forever. You used to tell me everything."

"What was I s'posed to tell you, dude? 'Hey Troy, by the way, I've been sucking face with Ryan Evans every afternoon in the dance studio'?"

"Why not?" Troy asked. "If that's what's going on in your life, why not just say so?"

"Because, dude, I…." Chad trailed off, staring uncomfortably down at his feet. "I didn't want to lose your friendship."

"Why would you lose it?"

Chad looked up, his eyes meeting Troy's. "Because I thought you'd…disapprove."

"Of you kissing Ryan? Why? Because he's a guy? Or because he's an Evans?"

Chad shrugged. "Both, actually," he sheepishly admitted.

Troy smiled. "Well…now that I think about it…the Evans part IS probably more disturbing."

"TELL me about it," Chad said as the two boys both burst into laugher, their tension finally finding an outlet.

It all seemed so surreal -- Chad dating Ryan -- and yet somehow it also seemed right.

"So…you and Ryan," Troy said as their laughter finally subsided, hoping that saying it out loud would make it seem more real. "You must really like him, huh?"

Chad blushed, looking down as he uncomfortably scuffed his feet. "Yeah."

"And he likes you?"

Chad got a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he grinned. "OH yeah!"

Troy smiled, putting a friendly hand on Chad's shoulder. "Then…I'm happy for you, dude."

"And…you're okay with it?" Chad asked tentatively.

Troy shrugged. "I gotta admit…it's gonna take a little getting used to. But…if you're happy, then I'm happy."

Chad let out a relieved sigh. "Then…we're still brothers?"

Troy nodded. "Definitely." He considered a moment before adding, "Unless, of course, that makes Sharpay my sister-in-law."

Chad laughed, playfully shoving his friend. "Dude! Don't even GO there!"

Troy laughed, running over and picking up the basketball from the bushes. Then, dribbling it in, he teased, "Then how about instead I go to the basket AND SCORE!" Troy cheered as his shot went in.

"Hey, no fair!" Chad complained, catching the ball. "I didn't know we were playing again."

"That ain't MY fault, dude," Troy teased, hitting the ball out of Chad's hands and dribbling it around again. "I don't wanna stand around all day talking like a couple of girls -- I wanna play basketball with my best friend."

Troy faked left and then charged right, but Chad didn't fall for it. He blocked Troy's shot, stole the ball, and took it up for his own basket.

"Yes! In your face, Bolton!"

"Whatever, dude -- I'm still ahead."

"Not for long," Chad said, stealing the ball back from his best friend. "I got moves you don't even know about."

Troy smiled. "Look, dude," he teased, "I'm okay with you dating Ryan -- but I don't wanna hear the juicy details."

Chad laughed and charged for the basket.

-----

The party was everything Troy could've wanted in an end-of-summer party -- great weather, great friends, great food, even great entertainment.

"Hey, Ryan," Troy said when he ran into the blond boy at the ice chest. "I'm glad I caught you. I just wanted to you to know -- I think it's great."

Ryan smiled. "Yeah, I think the party's a huge success. And I'll make sure I pass your compliment along to Shar -- SHE did all the work."

Ryan started to walk off, but Troy grabbed his wrist.

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant…you and Chad. I think it's great that you two are…you know…whatever."

Ryan looked around nervously, making sure no one else was listening, before replying, "Really?"

"Yeah. I'm cool with it. I mean, you seem to make Chad really happy."

Ryan grinned smugly. "I do, huh?"

Troy laughed, playfully shoving the blond. "Don't act coy -- you know you do. And I'm glad to see my best friend so happy. But promise me something -- you better not just be using him, or I might have to sic the entire basketball team on you."

Ryan's eyes grew wide with horror.

"Dude, I'm kidding," Troy laughed, playfully nudging his friend. "I'm not gonna tell anyone, certainly not the team. I just wanted YOU to know that I know…and I'm cool with it."

Ryan let out a relieved sigh.

"That's so good to hear. It's been killing Chad to have to keep this from you, you know? But he was afraid you would…you know…." Ryan trailed off uncomfortably before continuing, "Your support means a lot to him."

Before Troy could reply, Gabriella suddenly joined them. "If it isn't my two favorite boys," she said, putting her arm around Troy.

"'Boys'?" Troy teased, pretending to sound to offended. "Don't you mean 'men'?"

Gabriella giggled. "No, I definitely mean 'boys'. So, Ryan, how's the party going?"

Ryan smiled, glancing at Troy. "Couldn't be better."

"Ryan!"

Sharpay's bark could easily be heard over the din.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Spoke too soon, I guess," he said, hurrying off.

Gabriella turned to Troy, the straps of her swimsuit visible under her sundress. "Poor Ryan."

"Yeah," Troy agreed, recalling Chad's earlier skinny-dipping comment. "And poor Chad, too."

Gabriella looked at Troy warily. "What do you mean?"

Troy smiled at his girlfriend. "I mean I'm not clueless anymore. Chad told me about…you know," he said, nodding his head toward the stage where Ryan was preparing to go on with his sister.

Gabriella breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, I'm so glad you know. Do you know how hard it's been not being able to tell you?"

"Aw, poor Gabi," Troy teased, "it must've been TERRIBLE having to lie to me."

"Hey, it's been hell, okay? I mean, that whole bowling date fiasco--"

"What 'bowling date fiasco'?" Troy asked -- as far as he knew, the only bowling that Chad had done recently was the day they'd all gone together.

Gabriella giggled, shaking her head.

"Sounds like you still have a lot to learn, Mr. Clueless," she teased.

"Then why don't you teach me?" he asked, kissing her and momentarily forgetting all about Chad and Ryan and the party and everything else besides how good Gabi's lips felt against his.

-----

THE END


End file.
